Promised features an extra bluesy tone. Some minor sound issues getting worked out.
Sugaree is nice an psychedelic early with a watery tone to the guitars.
MAMU is fitting after Bob tells those in the crowd with flashbulbs to fuck off.
Bird Song features some nice, focused jamming.
BTW is right on. Bob's in good voice, and Garcia is perfect on the riffs under this singing.
Deal, solid effort from Garcia, as usual. It really gains steam.
El Paso is unfortunately cut about two thirds of the way in.
TN Jed comes in, after the lengthy cut, for the last part of the song.
PITB has psychedelia dripping from it from the opening notes. Donna sings it very confidentally, and awfully. They go into the jam section with full force. A driving, structured jam that doesn't let up. Great stuff here.
Big RR, nice effort.
Cumberland is where things really get going! Garcia is fully in the driver's seat.
Stella on the heels of that great Cumberland. It maintains the energy nicely, building into its little crescendos. Tempo is pretty quick for this ballad.
Jack Straw is short and sweet.
Casey Jones trucks right into disaster.
GSET is also cut, just the very beginning. Otherwise it's a typically rocking version.
Ramble On held a great tempo and was enjoyable.
BIODTL
He's Gone>Drums>TOO>Black Peter>TOO>Truckin
Gone also comes with a great tempo. It goes straight into drums, which is short.
Phil bombs us into TOO. The theme is just pouring out of their instruments. After the first verse, around the 9 minute mark, they descend into deep space. It gains speed and goes into some awesomely weird places. Flirtations with the Tiger begin before the 14 minute mark. The Tiger never strikes but instead we fall into Black Peter!
It flows right back into TOO jam and the final verse.
Truckin comes up out of the smoking crater after a measure, and has a nice tempo. The build up to the pre-final verse explosion is full on rocking. The post-explosion jam has a funny wah wah tone to it, like a Jew's Harp. It stays short and focused. The finale build up and explosion are also out of control! Solid way to end the meat sequence.
1/2 Step
Sugar
OMSN

Methinks I count about 19-20 beats intro to Beat It On Down the Line. Funny stuff.

CosmicGeordie has it wrong when he writes: "Black Peter makes one of its final appearances before essentially being shelved until the 80’s". This isn't even one of its final appearances in '72 (it is only the second of six appearances in '72). They went on to play it 50-60 times before the 80's...which is nice.

Interesting transition period recorded here, despite an uneven mix. Unique song mix as well. Pigpen’s steady decline began to really eclipse him earlier in the summer and Keith is formally introduced on this night as the new keyboard player (“…but Pigpen will be back”). There are many glimpses of things to come and Keith’s jazzy influences are really brining things to a new level here. The band is clearly having a good time as evidenced by all the banter and they seem to be feeding off of a particularly rowdy crowd. Garcia’s solo gems are featured, Playin’ reaches orbital velocity, Black Peter makes one of its final appearances before essentially being shelved until the 80’s, and a rough draft of ½ Step is rolled out of the barn. You can feel a sense of reinvigoration coming through the headphones: the band seems fired up, cocky, and perhaps a little giddy about all the new material they’re cooking up. Oh what a time it must have been…while also bittersweet considering Pig’s illness. Well…on this night, any sadness about Pig is getting poured into the music.

This is a fantastic performance by the band - you can tell by the banter from the first set that they are having fun. Great mix from Bear!
The energy level is high and the songs are played well - didn't hear any major flubs. This really scratched the itch this evening, so to speak!
Most of El Paso and Tenn Jed are missing and there is a painful cut in Jack Straw.
Well I'm gonna get back to the second set. This is gonna be fun :)